Use visual nudges to encourage people to write more in their Notes

[RobJN]

Some OSM Notes are simply not long enough to be of use. We don't need an essay but a little more detail would help.

One idea is to use a visual nudge to encourage people to write a bit more. I recently saw this when reviewing a hotel on booking.com. They provide a sort of progress bar which starts out at a low level and coloured red, and then increases as you type more until it is green and full. You also get a small bit of text encouraging you to write more, followed by "nearly there" etc.

Similar visual nudges exist when having to set a new password with a status bar in red for "Weak" passwords, orange for "OK" passwords and green for "Great" passwords.

What are you views on implementing similar for OSM Notes?

[tomhughes]

Well the obvious problem is determining what amount of text is "good" without being able to read the users mind - sometimes a few words is fine and other times it isn't.

A hotel review is rather different because it's obvious that you can't provide a meaningful review that is only half a dozen words, but "this road is closed" might be all that is needed in a note.

[simonpoole]

Do we have any idea how many notes are created via the website vs other apps using the api?

[RobJN]

Yes I appreciate it is not easy to know the right length but I still think there is value in encouraging a minimal amount of text.

For your example of "this road is closed" there is a good chance that more information is required to update the map. Is the closure permanent? how much of the road is closed (e.g. between junction X and junction Y)? And so on. I certainly would like a bit more info before making a map edit.

In the absence of any stats/evidence, may I start by suggesting a length of 50 characters as the level where the nudge indicator goes green. Uses can of course add more or less as they see fit.

[mmd-osm]

Before spending time on some fancy javascript code with unclear results, let's review what we have today:

1. The placeholder text "Your note is public and may be used to update the map, so don't enter personal information, or information from copyrighted maps or directory listings." doesn't provide much guidance towards the level of detail which we expect a user to provide.

2. " and type a note to explain the problem." also doesn't encourage people to provide a detailed report.

Could those be reworded/improved somehow?

[RobJN]

Good idea. How about:

A good note will allow others to update the map. Please be as descriptive as possible but avoid entering personal information, or information from copyrighted maps or directory listings.

[mmd-osm]

Adding: "Please be nice, patient and respectful when communicating with our community members."